SAN JOSE – On the surface, the five-game trip that the Ducks took through the voracious Central Division had disastrous consequences.

Some Stanley Cup favorite this outfit seemed to be. The sexy preseason pick to win it all appeared to buckle under the weight of its enormous expectations. A dreadful 15-shot effort in a loss at Minnesota revealed a reconstructed group that looked as if it was in disarray.

By the end of the winless jaunt, it wasn’t a matter if Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau would lose his job but when. But could it be that that trip is where they found themselves as a team?

As the Ducks collected their fourth straight win Saturday night with a hard-earned 1-0 decision over the San Jose Sharks, Corey Perry believes it is so.

“It started in Chicago,” Perry said. “You take that team in overtime in their building, 0-0. It can go either way. We had 40 shots or whatever it was and (Blackhawks goalie) Crawford played well. You go into Dallas and you’re up 3-0 in the first period. We had a letdown but there’s a lot of positives. It just snowballs from there.

“Yeah, we didn’t get any points or we got one point off that trip. But there’s a lot of good things that happened. I think that guys in that room believe. Guys started to realize what was going on and what we had to do. And it snowballed into what we are now.”

The Ducks aren’t at break even as there’s a still a lot of tough work ahead to erase the black mark that was their 1-7-2 start. Another important Pacific Division game is on Monday as Arizona comes back to Honda Center after laying a 4-0 whipping on them Oct. 14.

Edmonton, without injured wunderkind Connor McDavid, follows in on Wednesday and then the New York Islanders’ visit on Friday caps a favorable two-week schedule stretch before the Ducks head back on the road. At the moment, they’re in a much better place.

Following up a winning effort on Friday against Columbus with a key road victory over a bitter division rival is an example of the strides the Ducks have made. A tired group bent often in the third period but did all that it could to never break.

“You’re going to have to win games like that every once in a while when a team keeps coming at you,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “The effort level of our group was fantastic.”

Two things have emerged as foundations the Ducks can build on. An impressive display of penalty killing continued Saturday, with four San Jose threats with the man advantage put out.

Two of those came back to back late in the third, the second of which had them erase a 6-on-4 disadvantage after Sharks coach Peter DeBoer pulled goalie Martin Jones for an extra attacker. The Ducks are tops in the NHL with a 91.7 percent kill rate.

More importantly, the Ducks are getting quality goaltending. Anton Khudobin inspired a greater level of confidence that they can win when Frederik Andersen, who’s been outstanding despite a 3-5-2 record, needs a night off.

Khudobin stopped 31 shots for his first shutout with the Ducks and fifth of his career. The Ducks need him to deliver, given they took on a contract that’s making him their highest-paid goalie this season while Andersen operates on the final year of a bargain deal.

“It shows what kind of professional he was,” Boudreau said. “He’s been champing at the bit to get into the game again. … He played good here in the preseason as well. And we thought this was a perfect spot for him.”

Khudobin was acquired from Carolina over the summer to give the Ducks a notable upgrade in goalie depth after General Manager Bob Murray had to sign Ilya Bryzgalov out of desperation last winter when injuries occurred.

Having the veteran Khudobin playing well allows the Ducks to resist any temptation to rush John Gibson up from the American Hockey League out of necessity.

“That’s what you need in a team,” Fowler said. “You need two guys that can hold the fort steady when teams are buzzing. Since Doby got here, you can see his (positive) attitude.

“He understands it might be Freddie’s time to go most of the time but he’s always ready when he gets the opportunity and he fights like crazy. We’re happy to have him.”

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